INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY : BARNIER WANTS TO COMPLETE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK.

Michel Barnier has promised to advance legislative projects in the area of intellectual and industrial property and has announced new proposals by 2011. Speaking before the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), on 22 March, the internal market commissioner summed up the initiatives underway and those he intends to launch in order to bring about progress on trade mark law, authors' rights and the respect of intellectual property rights in the digital environment.

PATENTS AND TRADE MARKS

The commissioner referred to the European patent dossier, which was the subject of a minor breakthrough at the Competitiveness Council, in December 2009. On the issue of translations, a real stumbling block that the Council has been coming up against for almost ten years, Barnier is currently holding informal discussions with member states. The question of patent jurisdiction, suspended upon the opinion of the court requested in July 2009 (Opinion 01/09), will be reopened as soon as a reply is received from the court, in partnership with the EP.

Moreover, Barnier underlined that trade mark systems dating back to the 1990s must be modernised, simplified and better harmonised. This justifies the assessment undertaken by the European Commission, the results of which - expected in November - will form the basis of a proposal for the revision of the Community trade mark regulation and the national trade mark directive, in the course of 2011.

AUTHORS' RIGHTS

Barnier announced two legislative proposals closely linked to the Europe 2020' strategy and the Digital Agenda: one on orphan works, the other on the collective management of authors' rights. Approximately 40% of library collections are orphans': either the authors have not been identified or they cannot be located, which holds up the digitisation of these works, a major European challenge in itself. Barnier indicated to Christian Engstrom (Greens-EFA, Sweden) that he agreed with the principle of mutual recognition between national systems advocated by the JURI committee and mentioned a proposal by the end of 2010. As for a directive on the collective management of authors' rights, it would aim to facilitate the obtaining of cross-border licences and encourage development of the lawful offering' in the EU at a competitive price. This was an essential question for the commissioner, from Cecilia Wikstrom (ALDE, Sweden), because "without easy access to online legal content, it will be difficult to effectively combat piracy". He will either propose a green paper followed by a directive in 2011, or a directive as of this year.

INTERNET PIRACY

The commissioner welcomed the draft report by Marielle Gallo (EPP, France) on the respect of intellectual property rights. According to him, "we must not completely dissociate internet piracy from counterfeiting. Why should the theft of a DVD or CD from a shop be treated differently to piracy of the same film or piece of music on the internet?" Recalling that creative industries contribute 7% to Europe's GDP and provide 14 million jobs and that, in 2008, internet piracy has already cost 186,000 jobs and could, in 2015, cause the loss of 1.2 million jobs, he expressed his desire for a balanced and proportional solution, which protects both intellectual property rights and the fundamental rights of internet users, in particular that of young people. An impact study carried out by independent bodies on the application of Directive 2004/48/EC on the respect of these rights will be presented to Parliament in the autumn and will form the basis of a proposal for a revision in 2011. With regard to ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) negotiations, he underlined the importance of strengthening the protection of European creators also at international level.